Cat Behavior 101: Can Cats Really Be Encouraged To Bond With You?

If you're a cat lover, listen up, as this special insight into cat
behavior may surprise you.
Do you seek your cat's affection quite lovingly? Well, let's face it,
there are two big questions that have been asked by cat lovers, and others
alike. And these are:

1. Are cats really capable of bonding with us?

2. What can we do, as desperate cat lovers, to encourage more affection
from our beloved cats?

In other words, can cats be encouraged to relate to us in an affectionate
way, and to share mutual companionship, just like their dogs can?

Well, let's have a look at what could be possible answers to these two
deep-rooted questions that have been bugging cat lovers, and dog lovers
alike, for decades!

And you'll get some untold hints on how to better bond with your cat in
the meantime!

Well need to firstly look at the very nature of a cat's very essence,
their souls if you will, to give us some clues to answer this question on
cat behavior.

When you have an animal that's been with humans for over 5000 years, there
must be something profound that the humans, as well as the cats, are
getting out of this relationship. Something that's keeping them together
for so long, and no doubt for eons to come!

Imagine, in say the year 3000, we may have technology to travel through
space in luxurious aircraft, and of course, one of the first things that
people will want to bring with them is their favorite book, favorite
music, and... their cat!

But why is this so? There must be a level of bonding between cats and
humans that is beyond that of many other animals, that make us feel so
attached to them, want to share our life experiences with them... because
our feelings tell us that these feelings goes both ways.

But is this really the case? Do cats use us for food and warmth mainly? Or
is there a level of feeling behind the cat behavior that's on a higher
level than that, and resembles the feelings that we have for them?

These are valid questions. Let's first have a look at our human emotional
responses to our cats.

Our obsession with cats - yes let's admit it!

When humans first met cats, it was presumed to be at a camp fire. This is
not proven, though it is a strong possibility.

Why a camp fire?

Well cats love warmth and probably couldn't resist sitting around a
man-made camp fire. So they sat, appreciating the warmth, and also may
have found they don't have to hunt for. And then the humans were attracted
to their cuteness. More likely, it was their kittens that may have
clinched this bond. As when interacted, they would have shown cute
playfulness, and when nursed, would snuggle up.

Now the question is whether a cat can have snuggling up and playfulness
without the emotions of tenderness and enjoyment?

We'll come back to this in a moment. Let's take one more example from
history.

It was documented 5000 years ago that cats were domesticated into both
Egyptian culture as well as Indian culture at roughly the same time. In
fact, for period of over 2000 years in Egypt, there was such respect and
admiration for the cat, that the penalty for anyone killing a cat, was
death.

During this period, a Roman soldier accidentally killed a cat and was
nearly lynched by a crowd who witnessed this event. This became a
political conflict, and is thought to be one of the events that led to the
war between Egypt and Rome!

So, the humble cat has caused all this! An animal causing people to be
irrational over them.

But, does the cat reciprocate our feelings?

One example that could help us with this question is from Jeffrey Masson,
who wrote The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats. Among his many examples of
bonding is where he discovers that his cats will put up with getting
soaked, just to be with him:

"Like most cats, mine do not like rain. Yet when Leila, Ilan, Manu and I
walk up the hill in the evening in the rain, such is the cats' devotion
that they come with us... it is beyond question that the cats are doing
something because they want to... Moreover, since they walk in the rain
only when we are there, never alone, the love of our companionship must be
a strong component of their pleasure..."

It gets even better. The strength of our bond actually increases depending
on the extent that our cat's range of behavior and emotional responses
matches our emotional needs. Some people who really love attention from
their cat, and want the full gamut of personality, do find heaven, and so
does the cat, when they have for example, a Siamese cat that is able to
show a strong desire to lie on their laps for comfort every night, run
around like crazy when they play with, and is also slightly neurotic and
anxious when there is too much happening...

So there's some food for thought for you! You know have an insight into
the secret workings behind cat behavior, how both humans and cats really
feel about each other, and how cat behavior may be linked to their deeper
feelings about us, more than we ever thought so before.

Watch out for part 2 of this article, which will be coming soon.

What to do now

In part 2 of this article, you'll learn specific techniques, but for right
now, all I want you to do is to be aware of your emotion when you're about
to communicate with your cat.

When you want to convey a message to your cat, such as "There you are, I'm
glad to see you!", be very aware that you're communicating with each other
on a deep level of emotion. And when you're aware, your emotional message
will come through in your tone of voice and body actions, and the bonding
starts...

And once the bonding starts, you can't stop it, it just gets better!

So begin the process right now. You will be surprised before the next
lesson how much your relationship will improve with just this first step.

So go ahead, and practice this on your cat now.

Cassandra Mandello helps you to go from cat novice, to bonding with and
training your cat, quickly and easily. To get more "must have" tips and
hints on how to bond and train your cat, go now to this site on cat
training.
from http://www.ezpetz.com/catsindex.html